Hyderabad, Sept. 16 -- People in Hyderabad will now have to pay more for water, with the Hyderabad Metropolitan Water Supply and Sewerage Board (HMWSSB) set to hike charges by 5 per cent every year in a bid to recover revenue losses.

This will be the first tariff hike in nearly 15 years, since rates were last revised and fixed at around Rs 10 per kilolitre. The CURE Bill 2026 allows the state government to raise charges annually instead of through a one-time revision.

The yearly increase will weigh heavily on people's pockets, coming even as Hyderabad grapples with a water supply shortfall of around 150 million gallons per day (MGD), a gap likely to widen to nearly 230 MGD. Despite the city's growing population and rising demand, daily ...